Here’s proof book clubs can be fun

An assembly of spry older men gets together monthly for meetings of a North County book club. They call it the Vista Inland Area Gentlemen’s Reading Association. And of course, the acronym is intentional.

Gamesmanship: At a press conference last week, Chargers President Dean Spanos refused to commit to his football team staying in San Diego next season. But stalwart fans shouldn’t worry about any deal with Philip Anschutz’s AEG, the entertainment company maneuvering to build a new downtown Los Angeles stadium. The LA Times’ T.J. Simers says Spanos has already had a meeting with Anschutz, and it didn’t go well. “Anyone moving to LA,” writes Simers, “will have to have a meeting of minds with Anschutz.” Mark Fabiani, the Chargers stadium point man, indicates Simers had it wrong. “The implication by T.J. that somehow there was some big meeting that did not go well is overly dramatic, I would say. We have told AEG we are not interested in pursuing their downtown Los Angeles opportunity. We have communicated this publicly and privately... in various ways.”

Personal foul: “Why all the fuss over Snapdragon posing as Qualcomm Stadium for a few weeks?” asks Larry Jameson. “Our NFL team played there all season posing as the San Diego Chargers.”

The grounded ear: Former San Diego Councilwoman Donna Frye, still the subject of rumors about a late race for mayor, is playing politics for others. She’s endorsed Lori Saldana’s bid for Republican Brian Bilbray’s 52nd District congressional seat. Saldana is getting stiff opposition from fellow Democrat Scott Peters, the port commissioner and Frye’s former council colleague . . . Communications consultant and

SDRostra.com blogger Tony Manolatos has joined LaDona Harvey’s AM 600/FM 95.7 Radio talk show on Fridays. In his first turn at the mic, former U-T reporter Manolatos jawed about last week’s felony charges against current and former Sweetwater schools officials, which resulted from tough reporting in the U-T.

Updates: Latest tweak to NBC 7/39’s news lineup: Christine Haas, who comes with credentials. A former Texas anchorwoman and reporter, Haas won a national Edward R. Murrow award for exposing abusive spending by the Small Business Administration. She’ll co-anchor at 4 and 5 p.m. . . . After diagnosing former Channel 10 newsman Jack Moorhead with a rare lymphoma of the central nervous system, Scripps doctors have completed a first round of chemotherapy. Moorhead is at home and mending between treatments.

Close, but: Posted a website in support of would-be president Ron Paul last week: “In 2012, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union address will occur on the same day. This is an ironic juxtaposition of events. One involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to an insignificant creature of little intelligence for prognostication. The other involves a groundhog.” Depending on your party affiliation, that’s either funny or a cheap shot. In either case, it’s wrong. The State of the Union Address is Jan. 24; Groundhog Day’s Feb. 2.

Last word: Comedy writer Mary Jo Crowley’s daughter, Rebecca Steiner of Encinitas, attends Missouri State University on a debate scholarship. Says mom: “What a surprise. A teenager wants to argue.”